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#IMWAYR January 5, 2015

Here we go again! It's so wonderful to be participating in #IMWAYR. It's when bloggers post about the books they have been reading in the past week. It's always exciting to read about the books other readers are into. Check out Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers, and you may find more than a few books to add to your Goodreads list.

Finding quality beginning chapter books for younger readers is my biggest challenge, so reading these two books recently was like finding extra presents under our tree a few days late. I gave five stars to each of these: The Princess in Black by Shannon and Dean Hale and Jelly Bean(Shelter Pet Squad #1) by Cynthia Lord. Clicking on the links will take you to my review of them.

I finished listening to Goblin Secrets by William Alexander. I liked the ending which surprised me. I will certainly be encouraging readers of fantasy to try this one.

I finished Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. I purchased it for myself for a Christmas present. Of course I loved it. However, I listened to the first two as audiobooks, and think that Will Patton's narration makes the beauty of the language more pronounced. I've requested this one as an audiobook from our local library and look forward to rereading it this way. (If I read a book twice from my #mustread2015 list, do I get to count it as 2 books?)

I'm in the middle of listening to Loot by Jude Watson. Rick Riordan's stellar review made this one a hit at the book fair. I want to have this finished so I can talk about it with book club members and other readers at the school. So far, it's ok, but doesn't work so well when the other book I have on the go is Blue Lily, Lily Blue.

Up next this week I've got Julie Berry's The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, and As Simple as It Seems by Sarah Weeks as books. I've got The Giver by Lois Lowry waiting for me as my next audiobook.

6 comments:

Finn has and loved Goblin Secrets. So many of us gifted Blue Lily to ourselves I think! So pleased to hear your positive comments about these young chapter book titles. I think I might get them for my class!

Both are delightful Carrie. The lit circle set of Shelter Pet Squad is already in use. It will be interesting to hear what the teachers and kids think. I'm pretty sure this series will be a hit. I suspect that Princess in Black will also be a series. Lots of Fun!

Hi Cheriee, Loot was also at my school's bookfair and students have been recommending it to me - that's another I will have to read to keep up with them. : ) I guess I should give audiobooks another try - sometimes I just can't get past the narrator's voice and I am distracted by it. Maybe The Whispering Skull will be my first new attempt.

I'm so-so with Loot. It isn't so gripping that I can't put it down, but I couldn't stop listening to The Screaming Staircase. I started really listening to audiobooks in an effort to force me to get out walking. Now they've taken over my life.

My 13 year old girl and I read The Giver aloud two years back - and of course followed it through with Gathering Blue - I wonder if an audio book would make the experience any different. I'm a fantasy lover so was intrigued by Goblin Secrets - first time I'm seeing it - and its a National Book Award Winner! Will be on the lookout for that one Cheriee.

About Me

Across my teaching career I have taught combinations of mixed age groupings from kindergarten to grade 5. I was an ESL teacher for a number of years and am now a teacher librarian at Charles Dickens Elementary School in Vancouver, B.C.